My most recent Tough Mudder experience (in Seattle!) has given me an
opportunity to test out a bunch of essential oils on myself for their soothing
effects. Even though I love using the
oils, I still sometimes wonder if I am actually getting benefits from using
them, or if I would have felt better anyway with the progression of time. Whenever possible, I reaffirm to myself just
how much of a difference they actually do make for me. Here’s my little experiments for the week:
Sunburn
Despite having used (“normal” waterproof) sunscreen, I had a
pretty pink burn that was fairly equal in severity on both sides of my body,
especially on my shoulders and chest.
Everything I’ve read said to use either lavender or melaleuca (tea tree)
oil to soothe the burn. Here’s what I
applied for this sunburn:
Left shoulder – 1 serving unscented lotion, 1 drop
Helichrysum, 2 drops Lavender
Right shoulder – 1 serving unscented lotion, 1 drop
Helichrysum, 2 drops Melaleuca
Chest – nothing, untreated
The Helichrysum was for additional soothing; kind of a
backup in case the others didn’t work – since I really wanted to cool that
sunburn quickly! This was repeated once
a day for three days.
The results were quite convincing. The left shoulder (lavender) felt soothed and
cool immediately. The next day, it was
noticeably less pink as well as feeling soothed. The melaleuca side was better than the
untreated area in terms of feeling soothed, but the pink color did not change. By the end of the three day treatment, the
lavender side was feeling great, the melaleuca side was a lot better, and the
untreated area was very itchy. At that
point, I felt the results were conclusive enough that I switched to lavender lotion
for the other two areas.
Muscles
In previous Tough Mudders, it would take me nearly a week to
feel like my muscles were recovered from the strenuous course. I wasn’t interested in testing only one side
of my body for muscle pain relief, because as usual by the time I got home from
the event I felt too much pain to walk normally. So, I applied a pain relief blend to my sore
spots (ie, everywhere). The pain didn’t
go away completely, but it was much more tolerable. By day two I only really ached in my thigh
muscles, and felt normal by day four.
This is several days faster recovery than the previous times I have done
the event.
Cleaning Up
One final use of the oils post-event was for cleanup. Participants have to write their registration
number in permanent ink on several limbs, and are also encouraged to write it
on their face. In previous events, it
has taken me several days to get off all the black ink – not very professional
looking for Monday at work! This time, I got out my lemon essential oil and put
a drop on a q-tip, and the ink lifted off entirely. Within a minute, there was no trace of the
permanent marker numbers! What an easy
wonderfully scented solution.
As always, this blog is not intended to diagnose or treat
any medical condition, and no health claims are intended or implied. Check out my class calendar to learn more
about essential oils.
No comments:
Post a Comment
You are invited to join the conversation!
Please keep the following in mind when posting your comments:
- You do not need to register to comment
- You may comment anonymously
- You may post questions, and I will do my best to respond in a timely fashion.
- You may disagree. But please do so respectfully.
- I reserve the right to delete inappropriate or rude comments.
- You are the sole owner of your comments.
- You grant me license to publish your comments in another venue, royalty free and without limitations, including in a blog, book, video, or presentation.